Coros’ New Beta Update Adds Everything Its Watch Was Missing.
I like the Coros Running watch because it does almost everything the Garmin does, while costing less. But it’s always had some shortcomings, which I’ve mentioned in my reviews . Now, it seems that’s changing—the latest beta firmware update adds a major new feature and addresses some of my shortcomings.
I tried out the new features as part of the Coros public beta. You can register for the beta by following the instructions posted by Coros on Reddit. (On iOS, you’ll need to install the beta version of the Coros app, which will then grant you access to the firmware update. On Android, you’ll need to download the beta version of the app and then follow this link to access the new beta firmware.) I tested these features on the Pace 4 and was generally pleased.
Coros watches can now control music playing on your phone.
In my reviews of Coros watches, I’ve always taken off a few points for their music support. Until recently, the watch could only play music files you downloaded directly to it. That’s fine if you want to run without your phone, but for me (and many others), it’s an unnecessary hassle—a smartwatch really should be able to display and control what’s playing on your phone. Garmin and Suunto have had this feature for a while now, but Coros was the only major brand that didn’t.
But now it’s here. If you press and hold the button on the circle to open the toolbar, you’ll see two different apps. The familiar “Music” app plays downloaded music, while the new “Media Control” app does exactly what you’d expect: it shows information about the track playing on your phone and offers buttons for playing, pausing, skipping tracks, and adjusting the volume. Was it really that hard?
Workouts no longer end on their own while you’re cooling down.
When I switched from my Garmin to a Coros this summer , one of my main complaints was that the Coros watch pauses the workout after you’ve completed all the milestones. So, if you’ve programmed a 4.5-mile run but want to run a total of five miles for the day, you have to remember to hit “resume workout” after you finish. I usually run without paying attention to this, then curse the watch when I realize the last half mile never got recorded.
I prefer the way Garmin does it: once a Garmin workout is complete, it continues until you stop it manually. Coros seems to have adopted this philosophy, as workouts now automatically transfer to the open segment.
You can now undo the circle button press.
Pressing the lap button during a workout starts a new segment of the workout (or skips to the next segment if you’re following a pre-recorded workout). I know I’m not the only one who occasionally presses this button accidentally, so being able to undo the action is very helpful. Garmin watches added this feature about a year ago. Coros added it with this update.
Unfortunately, the undo function isn’t available for every Lap button press. I see it when I’m doing an unstructured workout and I’ve marked a lap—pressing the Lap button again takes me back to the original lap. But I don’t see the undo function when I’m doing a workout that already has lap segments, or when I’m doing a strength workout (where the Lap button toggles between work and rest modes).
You can time your rest periods during strength training without having to choose your exercises in advance.
I use the strength training feature most often: I start an unstructured workout, then press the lap button to mark the end of each set and the start of the rest period. This way, I can track my rest during the workout and know how many sets I’m doing. I can follow a pre-planned workout, but I never enter exercises from the watch during the workout.
It’s pretty straightforward on the Garmin, but on the Coros, the watch kept asking me to select at least a body part for each exercise. So, if I’m doing five sets of bench presses, I have to select “chest” every time at the start of the set. This drove me crazy, and I stopped using the rest timer altogether, making the strength training feature practically useless.
After the update, I can select a body part at the start of a workout, and it will remain active while I stop and start sets. (There’s also a “Full Body” option, so I usually choose that.) During a workout, pressing the “Start/Stop” button opens a menu where I can switch body parts if I need to. Suddenly, using the watch during strength training feels perfectly acceptable, rather than annoying.